How the Grinch Stole Christmas

We went to see the Grinch for Maddie and Christine's birthday. It was a great show. Although the funniest part of the night was during the drive in when Christine realized she forgot her phone and said she was supposed to call her friend so they could grab a drink and Maddie said "don't worry Christine I'll grab a drink with you" she said it as if she really knew what she was saying. She did say that she was going to drink water, so she didn't really know what Christine meant, but it was hysterical. Then we headed off to PF Chang's for dinner, it was delicious and then off to the show. The show was great, Maddie really enjoyed it and she behaved very well.

Hanging out with Christine

Before the show Maddie got the spend the whole day with Christine, they baked and shopped. A great girl day. We took some cute pictures in front of Christine's Christmas Tree. Maddie took the individual pictures of Christine, she was supposed to be in them but she loves taking pictures. Of course Maddie had to make at least one silly face in between all the nice pictues, she is such a ham!!!

Tree Triming

Jamie went out and chopped down a tree, would anyone expect anything else from him, ha-ha. He went a little overboard, the tree is about 11 feet tall, good thing we have a cathedral ceiling in the family room, although we had to move all the furniture around when we had a perfectly good spot in the corner for a normal sized tree, but what fun would that be!! We started decorating, but he needs to go back to RI to pick up some more of our holiday decorations. Maddie loved decorating because she got to climb up the ladder to decorate and she picked out Dora and Princess candy canes to put on the tree. I think they will be gone by Christmas I think she ate 3 while decorating. JP was just standing around looking cute and trying to pull everything off the tree, so the bottom will be bare and all the decorations will be 3 feet and up.

Kids Holiday Party

We had the Kids Holiday Party at my work and the kids had a blast. Jamie had to jump in and be Santa at the last minute, he did a great job, Maddie didn't even know it was him. He was a good sport! The kids had fun playing with Leslie and Stephanie from the hotel and made LOTS of cookies with extra M&M's for decorations, Maddie's favorite.

Dani & Adam's Wedding

We headed out the Berkshires to go to Dani & Adam's wedding, it was a small but beautiful event. We wish them a long life of happiness!!! Congratulations! It was also nice to have an excuse to have everyone get together before Christmas.

Thanksgiving 2008

We hosted Thanksgiving again as we usually do. It is only my family, so it isn't too big. Although now that it is over I am all turkeyed out, it was actually our 3rd thanksgiving dinner this month!! The Belsito's had their annual party, then since my Mom was in town we had a pre-thanksgiving dinner at Christine's. Then Christine came to our house on Wednesday after watching JP for us for the day since he wasn't feeling well and helped me get ready and cook. Maddie helped too, she is becoming a great helper in the kitchen, she helped make the Sweet Potato Gnocchi for the Belsito party and Christine's house. She helped Christine make Pumpkin Cheesecake.

Baby Francesca's Christening

Chucko and Adrienne's beautiful daughter Francesca had her Christening. Jamie was honored to be asked to be the Godfather. It was a busy day at St. Agatha's (where I was christened). Good thing it was loud because JP just yelled and waved "Hi Da-da" the whole time since Jamie was sitting with Francesca and gang at the front of the church. He is such a Daddy's boy! Although he did sit with me long enough for Maddie to take one picture of us, she loves playing photographer and sometimes she actually takes a good picture.

Tracy's Pumpkin Carving Contest

At work we had a Pumpkin Carving Contest and although we didn't win, I thought we did a great job considering it was only Leslie (my Asst HR Manager and myself). It was a fun day with lots of great pumpkins.

You can tell I am a child of the 80's :-)

Madeline's First Homework

Now that Maddie is in a preschool she has actual homewrk, although it took Jamie and I a couple of weeks to remember to actually help her do it. This weeks assignment was for the letter G so she drew a picture of her grandparents (the troiano's) and told a story about them. Here are the pictures she drew. The story she told was the they love her and she loves them, they also love cupcakes, and she wants to give them a hug and a kiss, she loves to visit them so she can play with her "friends" Amber, Evan, Alexa, Vanessa, Tyler, Kevin, Ryan and Baby Ashley.

Madeline's self portrait

I guess this is what happens when you tell your kids they are beautiful and great, they believe you!! Madeline certianly is on her way to be a very confident girls with a lot of self esteem (which is a very good thing for little girls). She has started drawing self portraits, not one here and there, several every day. On Monday, she showed the first one to the teacher at school and the teacher said it was good to which Maddie responded, "yes it certianly is, I should make another one" she is very funny. Here are some examples of her work.

JP is talking up a storm...

So much for worrying that Maddie might do all the talking, I think there is going to be some competition for who can talk the most! JP has started repeating everything, he is really starting to be able to pick up and repeat a lot of words. Although Mama & Dada are the favorites which are fine with us :-)

JP's Teeth

JP has been getting his 1 year molers for the last month and they have all popped through now, he has been chewing on his hand and drooling like crazy. He was pretty good, not too many fussy days.

3rd Annual Halloween Party

Even with moving I couldn't miss having our Halloween party, we look forward to it every year. So we had it a little early so we could finish our move after. The weather was great and the trail was spooky as ever. It was great to be able to have the party, which could be the last in RI ever! Hopefully we will be able to have the party at our new house in Bedford, we think there is a spooky trail to be found in the backyard. Hope everyone has a fun Halloween.

We have moved -kind of -

Well this past weekend we started moving our stuff to our new house in Bedford. We are renting now since we haven't been able to sell our house and we have someone to rent it. It has been nice being closer to work, although it is still about an hour for me because of traffic, I need to find the best route. Jamie has about a 10 minute commute so he is loving it. The kids started at their new day care center, so far so good, a little adjusting but they seem to like it. The mornings are a little challenging Maddie wants to stay home with which ever one of us drives her to school, but once she is there she is having fun. I would have had a picture of them on their first day, but with all the open houses and packing I have misplaced our brand new camera, hopefully I will find it soon.

JP's new Word

JP has a new favorite word, Doggie. Everytime he hears or sees a dog, he goes crazy. He LOVES dogs, it is so cute.

Weekend at the Cape

We were lucky enough for my cousin Sally to lend us their cape house for a weekend get away with the Zitomer's. It was great weather and a perfect location, the beach was right down the street, although we had to drive the kids and all the stuff, Melissa and I got to get a break and walk (5 mintues of adult conversation is like heaven). We spent most of Saturday at the beach and then all the activities, trampolines, go-carts, bummper boats, it was a jam packed day and lots of fun. Then Sunday we headed back to the beach, but for a shorter time, we got a little too much sun on Saturday. It was just what we needed to end the summer and the kids had a great time, minus the battle for flip-flops and sunglasses between the girls! Thank god for the Christmas Tree Shops!

Madeline Loves the Jo Bro's

Here is Madeline singing her new favorite song Burnin' Up by the Jonas Brothers. Thanks to Ms. Amanda at Jan's house Maddie is the newest Jo Bro Fan!!

Day at the Beach - Finally!

I can't believe it is August and we are finally getting to the beach, it has been a busy summer. Nana, Christine, Nick, Maddie, JP & I went to Sand Hill Cove. JP loves the beach. He was having fun playing in the sand and in the water. Maddie was having a great time in the water with Christine.

Day at the Lake

We had our home inspection for the house we are trying to buy in Sharon, so we thought good reason to head to Lake Massapog for a few hours. Mom, Christine, Maddie, JP and I went to take a quick look at the house while Jamie was there for the entire inspection. We took off and went to the lake for some swimming. It was a hot day and the water was nice. JP had a blast swimming with Nana. Maddie is getting really good at dunking her face ever since her swimming lessons.